1. Field of the Invention
This patent application claims benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/204,963, filed on Jan. 13, 2009, by James Shelton Farley Jr., et al. This invention relates to the arts of trigger mechanisms for firearms and the like.
2. Background of the Invention
Rifle triggers have been produced over many years for different various shooting applications. The objective of triggers designed for competitive shooting has always been to achieve a light pull at the finger piece to actuate the trigger mechanism. By “light pull”, those in the art mean a low weight of pressure required to release the trigger. Typically, a trigger is considered to have a light pull if it's release pressure is in the few ounces to one or two pounds range. Conversely, a “heavy pull” would be a release pressure of several pounds.
We believe that the Jewell trigger described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,005 was likely the first of its kind to employ “over center” internal geometry specifically to this end. Those skilled in the art realize that light pressure applied to the finger piece to collapse the trigger mechanism is a direct result of trigger geometry that allows for light pressure where sear surfaces are engaged.
Other very popular triggers are the Canjar trigger and Shilen trigger. Most of these triggers are available for use in Mauser-type, bolt-action, Remington 700 and 40× rifle actions. There are many other triggers made by other manufacturers, but most have a high degree of resemblance to the Jewell, Canjar or Shilen trigger.
However, some problems with existing trigger designs are that they:                (a) continue to make contact with the firing pin assembly once released, resulting in firing pin misalignment and loss of rifle accuracy;        (b) sometimes have difficulty resetting, which seriously affects reliability;        (c) require a number of different fasteners and other hardware making them more costly to manufacture and assemble;        (d) are susceptible to contaminants which adversely affects reliability; and        (e) can be difficult to consistently set the sear engagement surfaces, also affecting reliability.        